Martins Beach, Half Moon Bay. Thursday, August 25, 2016.

We cautioned Paintsiters over and over that it would be cold, windy and foggy for the paintout at Martins Beach and to dress accordingly.   Did they believe us?   Yes they did!  (Everybody brought lots of warm clothing.)   Then, on the drive over, we discussed how to mix 'greys' to best capture the anticipated fog.    We've been preparing for this paintout ever since it was scheduled and plenty hyped-up when the day finally arrived.    Then, when it turned out there was no fog (only a high overcast); there was no wind; the heavy clothes were never unpacked; were we the least bit disappointed?   No we weren't!

Our wonderful hosts, Judy & Steve Puthuff, who again opened their charming beachfront cottages for us, had one more amazing thing (never before seen or heard of at a Paintsite) to share with us:   Steve has a drone which he used to photograph us at work and then prepared a slide show for us to enjoy after lunch on their decks.

Steve and his drone.

Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday, September 1, 2016:   Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge, Fremont 

• Thursday, September 8, 2016:   Sawyer Camp Trail, San Mateo 

• Thursday, September 15, 2016:   Murphy Ave. & Caltrain Station, Sunnyvale

• Saturday, September 17, 2016:  Luna Park Chalk Art Festival,  San Jose

• Thursday, September 22 - Friday, September 23, 2016:   Annual Santa Cruz Paintout.

  (Registration required for post-paintout receptions - see pg. 7 of the September 

  Newsletter for details and instructions.)

• Thursday, September 29, 2016: Loma Prieta Winery, Los Gatos (Summit Rd.)  

Details can be found on the SCVWS website and in the September Newsletter.

Ongoing activities of interest involving Paintsites regulars:

• Mary Raftery and Laurie Barna are in the Haggin Art Museum's 59th Annual Juried National Exhibition.   Located in Stockton, the Haggin is famous for its outstanding fine art collection.   The show runs thru September 11, 2016.

• Karen Druker has been accepted into the The 8th Annual 50/50 Exhibition at the Sachez Art Center in Pacifica.  (1220-B Linda Mar Blvd.)    Gallery hours are Fri. - Sun. 1:oo - 5:0o PM.  The show runs until Sunday, September 18th.

• Candy Yu is currently showing 18 watercolor pet portraits at the VCA Crocker Animal Hospital, 475 N. Jackson Ave., San Jose.  Most of her artwork is in the reception area and hallways and can viewed by the public.    The Hospital is open Mon. - Fri. 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM; Sat. & Sun. 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.    The exhibit runs thru the end of October.

• SCVWS  members Annie Haines, Mary Raftery, and Uma Kelkar were accepted into Fioli's "The Valley of Heart’s Delight: A Multiple–media Exhibit"  which runs thru October 23rd.   The exhibit is in the Visitor & Education Center.   Admission is normally required (but you may be able to talk them into letting you see just the show if you promise not to sneak into the house or grounds).     There is a 'Meet the Artist' event on Saturday & Sunday, September 3rd & 4^th.  There is an admission fee.  See website for hours).   Uma will have some of her work displayed and will do some live sketching during this event.     There is also a 'Closing Reception' on Thursday, October 20th from 5:00 - 7:00 PM.    The 'Closing Reception' is free but reservations are required by October 14th and can be obtained at:  http://www.filoli.org/art-exhibits/  or 650-364-8300, x 508.     Note: October 20th is Filoli's final Artist Access Day for 2016.    For details, see:   http://www.filoli.org/art-exhibits/#artistaccess   

• Jane Ferguson and Nancy Calhoun are currently presenting 'Line & Shape' (mixed water media & encaustic) at Viewpoints Gallery, 315 State St. in Los Altos (http://www.viewpointsgallery.com/ .  Hours are Mon. - Sat. 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM; Sun. 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM.   The 'Meet the Artists' reception is Saturday, September 10th from 4:00 - 7:00 PM.    The show runs thru October 1st.   

Admittedly that's a lot of shows to visit it but it'll be well worth it! 

Judy's & Steve's Cottages: From the cottage decks one could either look up the coast (north) towards Shark Tooth Rock or down the coast (south) towards some near vertical cliffs where the surf is normally strongest (but not this day as the ocean was almost lake-like). 

A 'posed' shot of Carole, Helen, Lisha and Candy on the upper deck.

Candid shot from Steve's drone of the same artists - isn't this more interesting?   We may have to investigate the Watercolor Society investing in a drone so that the coordinators can monitor the artists.   And, if it had a loudspeaker, we could announce lunch was served.   The possibilities are endless.

Steve's drone photo of the lower deck looking north.   (That's Judy and Steve on the lower right -- does that make this the ultimate 'selfie'?)

Artists on the lower deck looking north.

There was time for 'beachcombing' before lunch ...

Marilyn (Thursday Paintsites co-coordinator).     (The blue umbrellas in the background are on Judy's & Steve's decks.)

Joy (left) and Katherine examine some of the treasures which Katherine collected --- priceless bits of shells and unidentified 'things', which Katherine refused to sell at any price.

Shark Tooth Rock:   Looking north toward our favorite subject:

Shark Tooth Rock at low-tide as photographed from Steve's drone.

Broncha's painting of Shark Tooth Rock from the lower deck.  (That's seaweed curving along the beach at the high-tide line -- it was a beautiful color.)

 Candy's sketch of Shark Tooth Rock from the upper deck.

Candy's painting of Shark Tooth Rock and the bluff just beyond.

Marilyn's sketches of the Rock.

Marilyn's painting of the Rock.

Carol's painting of the Rock.

From the upper deck, Helen's first painting of Shark Tooth Rock.

Helen's second painting of the Rock.

Joy's painting of Shark Tooth Rock and the bluffs and cliffs beyond.

Lisha's painting of the Shark Tooth Rock and beach level cottages.

Candy, painting next to Lisha, did this sepia sketch of cottages and Shark Tooth Rock.

Helen, painting next to Lisha and Candy, focused on just the cottages.

Liz on the upper deck.

Liz's painting of the Rock and the crab fleet out of Princeton.   Steve said they could see the lights on the boats when they were fishing at night.  We saw a number of dead crabs washed up on the beach.

From Steve's drone - left to right: the Rock, Mike and Lois.

Lois and Christine working at beach level.

Lois' journal entry format of Shark Tooth Rock.

Lois' second painting of Shark Tooth Rock.

Christine's painting from beach level allowed her to include some breaking surf.

Mike.

Mike's painting of the Rock.   He worked closer than the rest of us to the rock itself.

The bluffs beyond Shark Tooth Rock have been referred to --- Annie went around the first bluff, aligned with the Rock, to a quiet little cove where she painted smaller rocks and the surf rolling into the cove.

Annie's painting of the rocks on the far side of Shark Tooth Rock.

 Mostly the Ocean:   What better time to paint the surf than at the beach?

Carol's painting of smaller rocks with surf breaking on them.

Mike's painting of the surf and a crab boat on the horizon.

Mary in front of what used to be a 'general store' of sorts at Martins Beach.

Mary's painting of the open area between Shark Tooth Rock (on the left) and the small cove where Annie painted (to the right).

Looking south, towards the large cliffs where the waves normally break with greatest fury ... 

Tom & Rosalie recently moved to the Gold Country but were back in the area for a few days so Tom was happily able to paint with us.  He did this fine painting of the massive cliffs at the south end of the beach.

Marilyn's sketch of the southernmost cottages and the cliffs.

Broncha's painting of cottages and the first bluff to the south.

Katherine's painting of the towering cliffs south of Martins Beach.

Ji-eun's painting of the southern cliffs.   (That's Elaine in the lower right.)

Looking East:    Tom looked not north toward the rock, not south toward the cliffs, nor west toward the open ocean and the crab fleet -- rather, from the beach, he looked east towards the cottages on the bluff.
 

Tom's painting of Martins Beach cottages on the hillside.

Candy's painting of some of the nautical & marine things hanging on Judy's & Steve's fence.

 Lunch:

After lunch we had our critique and Steve showed the slide show he developed from the drone photos.  We saw some of the wonderful artwork in the cottages including two paintings by Wendy Mattson, Judy's & Steve's daughter who is a nationally recognized watercolor artist.   North Light Books published a book by Ms. Mattson, “Painting People in Watercolor (No Experience Required)" which, tho' not currently in print, may be found on Amazon.